Odd behavior by Fisher Cat on Copperwood Road

This morning Deb and I had an encounter with a fisher cat that did not seem fearful of us at all – it came within about ten feet of me. My neighbor later told me that it had squabbled with her dog and then peered in their screen door at them.

I alerted Jenny Cronin, the Town of Medfield Animal Control Officer, as the odd behavior made me wonder whether the fisher cat might be rabid. Jenny said that if you see the fisher cat and know where it is at that moment, call the Medfield Police Department at 508-359-2315, and they can dispatch Jenny to see if she can capture it.

Medfield State Hospital Master Plan Committee Update

The Medfield State Hospital Master Planning Committee is pleased to announce the release of the Medfield State Hospital Strategic Reuse Master Plan for the State Hospital site after four years of intensive effort.

The cover of the Medfield State Hospital Strategic Reuse Master Plan.

Preferred Master Plan Released

Residential, cultural, commercial, retail, and recreational uses are incorporated into the plan. Key features include:

· restoration and reuse of almost all of the existing buildings;

· maximizing open space and vistas;

· buildings and open area for a cultural hub; and

· space designated for a recreational and athletic complex.

The plan balances the priorities and desires of the Community with the economic and financial objectives of minimal impacts on school and Town services, minimal effects on property tax rates, and the potential for profitable development from the investor’s perspective.

Description: MDPH has elevated the West Nile virus risk level to moderate statewide. This wide-scale increase was driven by expanding and intensifying positive mosquito findings. A press release will be issued shortly. The majority of WNV human cases occur during August and September. Please take this opportunity to urge your residents/patients to take personal protective activities to avoid mosquito bites. Please visit results: http://www.mosquitoresults.com for updated risk maps and positive findings. If you have questions please call Matt Osborne at (617) 983-4366.

Regional Impact: Multiple communities across Region 4AB have a moderate risk for West Nile Virus exposure according to http://www.mosquitoresults.com, the Massachusetts Arbovirus daily update provided by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services

MRPC Activation Level: Steady-State Monitoring, non-activated.

Follow up: The MRPC will continue to monitor the State’s West Nile Virus severity in the region and will provide updates from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as they become available.

Today I got this email follow up, below, from the developer that the Medfield Housing Authority selected for the proposed project on Medfield Housing Authority land next to Tilden Village. I also met with the Legion and its developers this week about their plans, and the issue of how their timing fits in to the town’s safe harbor needs, so I asked Brain McMillin about the timing of his plan, and he reported “it’s not out of the question that it could take until 2022 or 2023 until these units are ready to be leased up.” –

I should probably point out that The Rosebay at Medfield is not public housing, so it is technically not an expansion of Tilden Village. It will be a privately-owned development located on land leased from the Medfield Housing Authority under a long-term ground lease.

Although it will not be public housing like Tilden Village, all of the units in the proposed development would still be affordable and age-restricted (62+) to meet the Housing Authority’s requirements. For the Town of Medfield, all 45 of the proposed units would count toward its Chapter 40B Subsidized Housing Inventory and further goals stated under its Housing Production Plan.

The basic structure we have proposed is fairly common and has been used around the country for privately-owned developments built on housing authority land. We are aware, however, that that it may require some explanation and we plan to provide that detail during our Comprehensive Permit hearing before the Zoning Board.

Tilden Village expansion – The Rosebay at Medfield

This email yesterday from Sarah Raposa about the Medfield Housing Authority’s planned expansion adjacent to its Tilden Village site having taken its first step by means of a filing with the Department of Housing and Community Development –

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We haven’t received the hard copy from DHCD but Mike was cc’d on the submission to DHCD.

The developer, Brian McMillin of NewGate Housing LLC, Westwood, MA stated to me that while the plans are “available on the Town’s website. . . they are a required step in preparing to file for a Comprehensive Permit for The Rosebay at Medfield, and they contain only basic preliminary information. More detailed information regarding the proposed development will be provided in the Comprehensive Permit application.”

Osler ”Pete” Peterson

Medfield Selectman

I started this blog to share the interesting and useful information that I saw while doing my job as a Medfield selectman. I thought that my fellow Medfield residents would also find that information interesting and useful as well. This blog is my effort to assist in creating a system to push the information out from the Town House to residents. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how it can be done better.

For information on my other job as an attorney (personal injury, civil litigation, estate planning and administration, and real estate), please feel free to contact me at 617-969-1501 or Osler.Peterson@OslerPeterson.com.

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